Last 11 November, the ecotourism capital of Palawan celebrated the Subaraw Festival. The highlight was a colorful showcase of biodiversity through a street dancing competition celebrating life in all forms found around the famous Puerto Princesa Underground River, a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the 7 wonders of nature.

As early as 8 a.m., Rizal Avenue, the city’s main thoroughfare, was closed to give way to all the dancers competing for the second Subaraw Street Dancing. Six groups from different schools, barangays and municipalities joined this year’s festival.

Tribu Manunggul from the Municipality of Quezon, South of Palawan won second place.

Pulang Lupa group of Sta. Monica High School placed third.

THE celebration features different wildlife found in and outside of the Underground River.

The defending champion from Puerto Princesa City Science High tagged as “Tribu City Sci” reclaimed its throne this year, taking home P500,000 cash and a trophy.

Second placer with the prize of P300,000 was Tribu Manunggul from the Municipality of Quezon, south of Palawan. Tribung Pulang Lupa of Sta. Monica Highschool emerged in third place with a P200,000 cash prize.

The Subaraw street dancing is purely a showcase of dances that features wildlife such as birds, fishes and animals found in and outside of Underground River. It also highlights the Soltero Dance, a Cuyuno hit dance that speaks about the life of a single man living in the island.

This year’s roster of judges was composed of well-known street dancers and choreographers from different festival in the country, headed by Peter de Vera as chairman with Rodel Fronda, Julius Cezar Cebolles, Gerlin Francisco and Benjie Torre.

Subaraw is word combination of Suba (River) and Taraw (Marble Cliff) tagged as the only Biodiversity Festival in the Philippines that started in 2018 under the helm of Mayor Lucilo Bayron. It is a tribute to the famous river, the number one tourist attraction of the city.

This year’s festivity started last 2 November and ended on 11 November, known as Puerto Princesa Underground River Day as per Presidential Proclamation 816. Other events in the Subaraw Festival includes Float Parade, Festival Queen Pageant, Fun Run, Exhibits, Agro Trade Fair and many more. Sen. Lito Lapid was this year’s guest of honor.